Which to use
“arrêtaient” and “arrivaient” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #29,228
- “arrêtaient” frequency rank
- #16,808
- “arrivaient” frequency rank
- 46036
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | arrêtaient | arrivaient |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif imparfait du verbe arrêter. | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif imparfait du verbe arriver. |
Where the eye mixes arrêtaient and arrivaient
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. arrêtaient and arrivaient follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCVVVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between arrêtaient and arrivaient
A purely visual mix-up. arrêtaient (\a.ʁɛ.tɛ\) and arrivaient (\a.ʁi.vɛ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46036, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
arrêtaient is recorded at frequency rank #29,228, classified as averb, pronounced \a.ʁɛ.tɛ\. arrivaient is at rank #16,808, tagged as averb, pronounced \a.ʁi.vɛ\.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 46036, this pair ranks #198,126 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of arrêtaient vs arrivaient
Shared letters: aeinrt. Private to "arrêtaient": ê. Private to "arrivaient": v.
"arrêtaient" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCVVVCC · "arrivaient" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCVVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- arrivaient ← arirvaient · arivaient · arriavient · arrivaeint · arrivaiennt · arrivaientt · arrivaietn · arrivainet
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "arrêtaient" and "arrivaient" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "arrêtaient" or "arrivaient"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "arrêtaient" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "arrivaient" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #198,126 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "arrêtaient" and "arrivaient" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "achetaient vs arrêtaient". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #198,126 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.